Rodgers lifts Packers to 24-20 win over Lions
DETROIT — The Green Bay Packers stayed on their roll in the Motor City.
Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes, including a 22-yarder to Randall Cobb with 1:55 left, and the Packers came through with a 24-20 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday for their fifth straight win.
Mason Crosby made a 39-yard field goal with 19 seconds to go after missing two field goals earlier in the game.
Matthew Stafford couldn’t put the Lions ahead on either of their last two drives in a game he’d like to forget.
Stafford threw two interceptions — one of which was returned 72 yards by Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings for a go-ahead score in the third quarter — and lost a fumble.
Green Bay (7-3) moved a half-game behind first-place Chicago in the NFC North. The Bears play at San Francisco on Monday night.
Detroit (4-6) has dropped two in a row, making its goal of playing in consecutive postseasons very difficult.
Rodgers was 19 of 27 for 236 yards with two TDs, the first of which was a 20-yard connection with wide open Jermichael Finley early in the second quarter to give Green Bay its first lead, and an interception.
Cobb had nine catches for 74 yards and the game-winning TD, a twisting grab in the end zone. Finley had three receptions for 66 yards and a score.
James Starks helped the Packers strike somewhat of an offensive balance with 74 yards rushing on 25 carries.
Stafford completed just 17 of 39 passes — missing many receivers badly — for 266 yards with a 25-yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson that put Detroit ahead 17-14 late in the third quarter. He lost a fumble at midfield in the third quarter one drive after throwing a pass directly toward rookie cornerback Casey Hayward, who started for the injured Sam Shields.
In Detroit’s last home game three weeks ago against Seattle, Stafford threw a winning TD pass with less than a minute left for the second time this season and for the fourth time in his four seasons.
He didn’t come close to pulling off another rally.
The Lions lost 5 yards after Rodgers’ second TD pass and on the final play of their next possession without a timeout, Stafford threw a 30-yard pass to Johnson and the receiver’s lateral was recovered by safety Jerron McMillian at the Green Bay 30.
Johnson, who dropped some passes, had five receptions for 143 yards and caught a TD pass from Stafford for the second straight week after they failed to connect for a score in the first eight games of the season.
Mikel Leshoure had 84 yards rushing and a 1-yard TD run that gave Detroit a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Lions settled for field goals after driving inside the Green Bay 10 early and late in the game and those missed opportunities proved to be costly.
If Green Bay lost, Crosby would’ve gotten a lot of the blame for staying in a funk in which he missed seven of 12 field goals. He missed a 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half — failing to take advantage of a second chance after Detroit called a timeout to rattle him — and missed a 38-yard kick midway through the fourth quarter.